Immunoproliferative small intestinal disease in Greece: presentation of 13 cases including two from Albania.

Objectives: Immunoproliferative small intestinal disease (IPSID) represents a spectrum of clinicopathological entities including alpha-chain disease and other types of lymphoplasmacytic proliferations of the lamina propria of the small intestine, presenting with severe malabsorption. IPSID has been described mainly in the Mediterranean, Middle East, and African countries. It occurs rarely in western countries.

Defense mechanisms in inflammatory bowel disease.

Background: Although psychiatric disturbances and personality features are possibly involved in inflammatory bowel disease, little attention has been given to the potential role of defense mechanisms in the formation, course, or prognosis of the disease. The purpose of the present study was to determine whether certain defense styles and ego mechanisms of defense are associated with inflammatory bowel disease, including both ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease.

Methods: Seventy-six consecutive unselected outpatients participated in the study.

Validation and results of a questionnaire for functional bowel disease in out-patients.

Background: The aim was to evaluate and validate a bowel disease questionnaire in patients attending an out-patient gastroenterology clinic in Greece.

Methods: This was a prospective study. Diagnosis was based on detailed clinical and laboratory evaluation.

Increased levels of lipoprotein (a) in Crohn's disease: a relation to thrombosis?

Objective: Lipoprotein (a) is recognized as a risk factor for arterial and venous thrombosis, a property that might be related to its structural similarity to plasminogen. Since patients with inflammatory bowel disease frequently suffer from thromboembolic events, we studied the role of lipoprotein (a) in conjunction with lipids and apolipoproteins in Greek patients with ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease.

Methods: Lipoprotein (a), total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, triglycerides, apolipoprotein A-1 and apolipoprotein B-100 were determined in sera from 129 consecutive fasting Greek patients with inflammatory bowel disease (66 with ulcerative colitis and 63 with Crohn's disease) and from 66 matched healthy controls.